Support FREEDOM Act On May 1st

Labor Alerts: a service of Campaign for Labor Rights

In this alert:

• Recent Supreme Court Decision Removes Labor Rights of Undocumented Workers
• Bracero Program - Dangerous for Workers
• FREEDOM Act - A New Alternative
• Take Action May 1st to Support Undocumented Workers and FREEDOM Act.

[ Information in this Alert provided by the National Coalition for Dignity and Amnesty for Undocumented Workers, www.tepeyac.org/amnistia/, Farm Labor Organizing Committee, www.floc.com; and Mexico Solidarity Network, www.mexicosolidarity.org ]

In the wake of the recent historic Supreme Court decision removing the labor rights of undocumented immigrant workers (which it had previously upheld), the National Coalition for Dignity and Amnesty for Undocumented Immigrants has called for a May 1st nationwide mobilization for immigrant worker justice. Delegations from 23 states will converge on Washington, DC to demonstrate broad support for the F.R.E.E.D.O.M. Act legislative proposal for immigrant legalization. Simultaneously, hundreds of activists across the country will visit their local Congressional offices.

RECENT SUPREME COURT DECISION REMOVES LABOR RIGHTS

[Information from an article in La Jornada, Mexico City, Mexico, Thursday, March 28, 2002, by Jim Cason And David Brooks, Washington Correspondents]

On March 27th, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that undocumented workers do not have the right to free association in unions nor protection against employers that violate their labor rights. This decision means that if a business fires a worker for union activities (or any other reason), the worker does not enjoy the legal protection established by law because of her/his illegal immigrant condition.

Undocumented workers in farm fields, factories, restaurants, and hotels in the country from this point do not have the right to demand lost wages or any other restitution from employers that violate the law by firing or punishing them for exercising their basic rights.

The Court made a divided decision, 5 to 4, resolving the case of undocumented worker Jose Castro, fired along with three other employees from the Hoffmand Plastic Compound in Paramount, California, in 1989, for supporting efforts to unionize the plant. The National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency in charge of resolving violations of labor law and that supposedly guarantees protections to workers against employer repercussions for union activities or protesting employment conditions, found the rights of Castro had been violated and ordered that he be paid his back wages. The lower courts upheld the NLRB ruling, but the Supreme Court ruling reversed those decisions.

BRACERO PROGRAM - Dangerous for workers

The Bush Administration favors a "bracero" worker visa program. Under this program, immigrant workers are assigned a boss by the federal government and they 1) cannot change jobs legally, 2) do not have the right to vote or a means to gain citizenship, 3) do not have the right to form unions, and 4) can be deported and prevented from returning to this country at the will of their employer.

Baldemar Velasquez, President of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee of the AFL-CIO, wrote, "What's scary is the number of good-hearted people who have been sold on this idea. Without a mass movement of opposition, Congress will go for it. People see it as some "compromise" short of "blanket amnesty." "Isn't it better than not having papers at all?" they ask. NO, IT'S MUCH WORSE! This program *codifies into law* the intimidation and absolute power employers have over immigrant workers."

FREEDOM ACT - A New Alternative

The National Coalition for Dignity and Amnesty for Undocumented Immigrants is an alliance between grassroots, labor, religious, and ethnic organizations struggling for the legalization of all undocumented immigrants. This coalition has developed a proposal to change the current immigration system - the FREEDOM Act.

The FREEDOM Act is not "blanket amnesty." It provides for: 1) 3-year temporary residency for every gainfully employed, law-abiding undocumented immigrant with a process by which they could earn permanent residency and 2) a mechanism to legalize future migration flows and demilitarize the border so people who come here to work could visit their families back in home countries regularly enough not to have to smuggle them here under great danger. The full proposal is available on www.floc.com. For more information on the coalition for dignity and amnesty, visit www.tepeyac.org/amnistia.

This is a critical moment for the battle for immigrant rights. The Supreme Court's decision is a devastating blow to all undocumented workers' ability to organize for their rights. It makes undocumented workers even more attractive and vulnerable to employers, who already intentionally recruit them for their exploitability.

TAKE ACTION MAY 1ST TO SUPPORT UNDOCUMENTED WORKERS AND FREEDOM ACT

In the wake of the recent Supreme Court decision, the National Coalition for Dignity and Amnesty for Undocumented Immigrants has called for a nationwide mobilization for immigrant worker justice on May 1st. Delegations from 23 states will converge on Washington, DC to demonstrate broad support for the F.R.E.E.D.O.M. Act legislative proposal for immigrant legalization. Simultaneously, hundreds of activists across the country will visit their local Congressional offices.

On May 1st, travel to Washington DC or organize in your community to support the FREEDOM Act.

** Washington Convergence
On May 1st in Washington D.C. delegations of people from across the country will deliver copies of the FREEDOM Act to Congressional members from their states. At around 2 pm, we will convene for a speak-out and rally in front of the Capitol.

** Local Actions
Locally, activists are organizing delegations to their local district Congressional office that day. Others are organizing speak-outs, marches, and other public actions; perhaps you could too.

~Email mayday@floc.com to receive more information and organizing materials for these actions.

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